The row over the impact of Brexit on Britain’s favourite foods has reignited after the boss of Sainsbury’s suggested its bacon slices could be cut thinner.
Following on from disputes over Toblerone and Marmite, CEO Mike Coupe was confronted with claims that his supermarket was selling the same number of rashers in a pack - but slimming them down.
He was challenged on the topic by the BBC’s Today programme’s business presenter Dominic O’Connell.
O’Connell said he had stopped buying Sainsbury’s bacon because the rashers were “cut too thin now”.
“It tastes like someone’s shaved a pig with a slightly blunt razor,” the journalist said.
In response, Coupe admitted that the thickness of bacon slices could have dropped, but suggested it was likely down to catering to the customer.
He said: “There may be different tastes depending on what products you buy, but I wouldn’t say we’ve reduced pack sizes or we haven’t reduced pack sizes. We don’t do that. There are branded manufacturers that do that, as you say.
“It may well be that we’ve decided that from a customer point-of-view slicing our bacon thinner is a good thing, you may not agree with that but in the end, we always work to respond to our customers’ needs.”
O’Connell asked in response: “Slicing bacon thinner is a good thing?”
Coupe replied that “Well it could be. I quite enjoy thin-sliced bacon, I like my bacon thin and crispy, so it depends on personal taste.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson later told The Huffington Post UK: “Our packs of ‘by Sainsbury’s’ bacon weighed 300g a year ago and still weigh 300g today.”
The cost of popular products to supermarkets has proven a controversial point in the wake of Brexit.
Earlier this year, Marmite was in the spotlight after Tesco removed the condiment and other Unilever items from its shelves when the supplier demanded a 10% price hike due to the falling value of the pound.
Toblerone also came under fire when its manufacturers decreased the number of chocolate triangles on its bars, provoking fury from shoppers,
A statement from the company read: “Like many other companies, we are experiencing higher costs for numerous ingredients.
“We carry these costs for as long as possible, but to ensure Toblerone remains on-shelf, is affordable and retains the triangular shape, we have had to reduce the weight of just two of our bars in the UK.”